Seattle’s offense finally gets going in rout over the Colts

After being absent for the first three weeks of the season, the Seahawks (2-2) offense ripped apart Indianapolis (1-3) defense in a 46-18 win at Centurylink Field. It was a big win game for the offense that equally distributed touches to all of its weapons.

Quarterback Russell Wilson equally distributed the ball through his wideouts during the game — his top two targets were Jimmy Graham (four receptions) and Tyler Lockett (four receptions). The balance that was displayed by the passing attack is unprecedented for Seattle in the last couple of seasons, and it’s necessary for this kind of balance to continue if Seattle’s offense expects to have success throughout the season. What was really impressive for the Seahawks offense was how much more physicality their receivers possessed than Indianapolis’ defensive backfield; Richardson, Tyler Lockett, and Graham were able to just run dominate defenders in space to pick up extra yardage.

This was arguably Wilson’s best performance since the end of the 2015 season, which is good to see that he was able to do it behind an offensive line that was questionable against a terribad Indianapolis defense.

Seattle’s offensive line is still a flaming pile of poop

Wilson was routinely on the run all night long and the pocket was routinely in his face, despite the fact that Indianapolis’ pass rush has struggled throughout the season. The Colts managed to sack the Seahawks quarterback three times during the first half, before completely wearing down throughout the game. Once the Colts’ defense tired out in the second half Seattle’s offense began to click.

Jimmy Graham is best when being used on the intermediate routes

The tight end has been heavily criticized for his inability to get more heavily involved in the offense, but he fit in seamlessly tonight. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell consistently dialed up plays that placed Graham into advantageous matchups with linebackers…or in the middle of the field with no defenders around him. Because of this, Wilson constantly targeted Graham and he was brilliant — other than a catchable pass that bounced out of his hands and into the hands of Malik Hooker.

Jacoby Brissett died behind the same offensive line that killed Andrew Luck

While Seattle has (arguably) the best defensive line in the NFL, the Colts offensive line looked down right awful all night. Brissett was sacked three times, including a brutal hit in the third quarter that took him a long time to get up from. If the Colts are serious about getting back into the playoff race, they’re going to need to fix their offensive line otherwise their quarterbacks are constantly going to end up on the injured reserve.

Tyler Lockett is dangerous running the ball

Another, interesting, offensive wrinkle reintroduced by Bevell during this game was using Locket on the jet sweep; Locket carried the ball twice for 24 yards because he was just able to outrun everyone to the edge. The wide receiver’s speed has made him a big threat in the return game, and as a deep threat, but the Seahawks hadn’t incorporated him really into the run game yet. Seattle has rarely run this with him before, and that’s why it was so successful tonight.

JD McKissic was a revelation

Second year running back McKissic had a couple of dominating runs late in the game to help the Seahawks pull away from Indianapolis in the third and fourth quarter, including a 30-yard touchdown run to give Seattle a 31-18 lead (before the PAT). McKissic’s speed was the difference maker against a gassed Indianapolis defense, and he could provide a nice change of pace after the bruising running style of Eddie Lacy; both of those tailbacks are going to see more snaps because of the gruesome injury suffered by Chris Carson.

Chris Carson’s broken leg is a disaster for Seattle’s offense

Carson has been Seattle’s only offensive star through the first three games this season, and his gruesome injury in the fourth quarter is disastrous. Hopefully he has a full recovery after his surgery…because that injury was gruesome.